Influence Law and Economics at Obesity the Citizens - Essay Example

Task: Obesity (Law and Economics) Among the major concerns of every government is the health status of the citizens. Any business should promote consumer well-being. Ensuring good health condition of the citizens who are consumers is a common role of businesses and governments. This calls for various economic and legal measures that promote the health of consumers. Obesity is a major challenge to good health among citizens of governments who are the consumers targeted by businesses. Reducing obesity and its effects becomes and inevitable program. It, therefore, is an economic issue that also involves the intervention of policies and laws of the government. According to WHO, health is a major consideration as a measure of living standards. According to Stettner, WHO defines good health as a status when someone has sound physical, mental or sociological state that warrants him or her to be in a state of well-being (209). It may also refer to a state in which one has no disease. The international community is facing a great health problem with the increasing instances of obesity and its associated effects. Obesity is an epidemic that is recognizable by the WHO, today. It poses global health consequences to various governments. This call for the setting up of an international legal framework that would see various governments set up ways to address the epidemic of obesity. Various countries and jurisdictions have a number of policies that look into the issue and provide necessary intervention measures to deal with it. Instituting such legal frameworks also lead to potential consequences that are unintentional. Policymakers also face many challenges when instituting such laws and policies aimed at finding solutions into the epidemic of obesity (Stettner 210). On the economic front, the international community is undergoing challenging times. The economic recession experienced during 2008, for instance, posed a great difficulty on various governments. The institutionalization of policies needs adequate financing and resources. Policies meant to address the effects of obesity are turning expensive with the worsening economic situations in the global scale. The United States, for instance, incurs high cost of addressing in every financial year (both indirect and direct costs). The economic turndown experienced by the international community may further lead to increased cases of obesity. This is because people may turn to less expensive dietary measures consisting of food that is high in calorie. This is because of the economic hardships. It is essential for governments and global institutions to find ways of institutionalizing policies meant to reduce cases of obesity while addressing the current global economic challenges. Acs, Henderson, Levy and Stanton note that obesity is an issue that affects the business fraternity, the government and citizens or individuals on a common scale (221). It, therefore, presents a range of challenges to various sectors of the government and all levels of the society. The health sector bears challenges of high budgeting and costs involved in addressing the obesity epidemic. There are, in addition, cultural dimensions of this health menace affecting the government. All institutions in the United States (both corporate and public) have different avenues set to tackle the issue of obesity (Acs, Henderson, Levy and Stanton 221). Such avenues aim at promoting public awareness on the effects, causes and costs of obesity. Americans, therefore, receive ethical information about the outrage of obesity among them. The initiatives aim at reducing the costs (direct and indirect) incurred in relation to combating obesity. Businesses have initiatives aimed at determining income that that affect eating among the population. Businesses may also have influence on physical activities including exercise through job tasks. In this view, businesses help address obesity as an economic issue. According to Acs, Henderson, Levy and Stanton, public policy plays an immense role in addressing the effects of obesity (222). Governments and interested public groups are great contributors in managing the obesity crisis. Public policies can affect the dietary behaviors of the public. Through avenues as taxations and consumer policies, the government can address the issue of obesity. Policies and programs of the educational system are subject to the governments’ control such as feeding programs. The government can play an immense role in reducing the outrage of obesity through proper dietary practices, in this case. The government, through policy formulation, can either encourage insurance covers provision for obese people. Obesity, therefore, is a major issue addressed through both the law and economic measures. According to Rashad and Grossman, there is notable rice in instances and associated consequences of obesity (73). According to a report by CDC, the effects of obesity are almost overtaking the effects of smoking. This would make obesity the most prevalent preventable disease that causes death. The problems that emanate from the effects of obesity are annually on the increase. Since there is a high cost incurred in finding remedy to the condition, the government, businesses and corporate sector play the most in the treatment of the condition. It, therefore, affects the economy and the policy systems, alike. Various policy issues and laws, set by the government, are important in finding remedy to the condition. The cheeseburger bill, for instance, aims at limiting the number of lawsuits filed in opposition to the fast-food industry, in the United States. This would consequently reduce the amount spent by the government on weight reduction products by the government. There is significant increase in the number of restaurants that serve fast foods (Rashad and Grossman 74). This is a major contributor to the high number of obese people in the entire population. Restrictions to this increasing number of fast-food outlets are possible through avenues as taxation measures. High taxation, but that which is ethical in business, can help control the ever-increasing number of such restaurants. Licensing is can play an immeasurable role in ensuring that the number of such restaurants is under control. All these avenues are economic measures that can help reduce the effects of obesity and its high costs of treatment. Reducing the effects of obesity, therefore, remains possible through legal and economic measures. Obesity is common among the low-income groups of the society (Drewnowski and Darmon 265). There is a direct relationship between income level and obesity prevalence in the society hence the socio-economic influence. The low-income groups of the society are prone to the consumption of foods with low-cost sources of dietary energy. These include added sugar and fats, which rates highest as the causes of obesity. Such diets are cheap and readily acquired. Diets that are recommendable for good health, however, are expensive and not readily acquired. The rise in obesity cases, therefore, relates to the increasing cost of food that is friendly to consumers’ health. Revising the issue of disparity in food prices is an important step towards ensuring the reduction of obesity among the population. Economic measure, therefore, becomes handy in addressing the difference in food prices for the low and high-income groups of the society. Exercising high taxation on cheap foods with high sugar and fats would be helpful in ensuring they do not spread to the consumers and consequently their obesity causing effects. The government’s intervention through policy formulations would help in reducing the circulation of cheap and fatty foods to consumers. Policies that promote agriculture can help in the production of healthy foods (Drewnowski and Darmon 265). Improving nutrition in schools is another program available for the government in ensuring the reduction of circulation of cheap food high in fats and sugar to consumers. According to Dellava, Bulik and Popkin, taxation serves as a measure of escalating the prices of junk foods thus discouraging their consumption (1887). This is an initiative aimed at improving the general health of the consumers. They state that the use of taxation as an economic measure to ensure only healthy foods are in the market is effective. However, they point out that other measures also plausible role in protecting consumers from food that are not healthy for their consumption. The government bears the obligation to enact policies that are helpful in ensuring the protection of the public from foods that are hazardous to their health. Health policies are also beneficial in ensuring the public get health food. Through such policies and laws, the government can control the rate of obesity among the population. The government should engage the public in education on the various policies and laws that discourage the consumption of junk food that increase their chances of contacting obesity. Obesity is an increasing heath problem among many people today given the increase in the consumption of fast foods. It, therefore, requires the intervention of both economic and policy measures as enactment of laws. According to the different literatures presented herein, taxation forms a major economic instrument in restricting the circulation of food high in sugar and fats to consumers. This helps in reducing the main cause of obesity- calorie in fats and sugar. The government can apply the law to curb the high rates of obesity among the public and the high costs incurred from measures of reducing it. The various policies and laws set by the government would also lower the cost of purchasing weight reducing medicines. The use of laws, therefore, presents a viable avenue of lowering the circulation of food high in fats and sugar that cause obesity. Works Cited Acs, Zoltan., Lyles, Alan., and Stanton, Kenneth. Obesity, Business and Public Policy. Massachusetts, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007. Print. Dellava, Jocilyn., Bulik, Cynthia and Popkin, Barry. Price Changes Alone Are Not Adequate to Produce Long-Term Dietary Change. The Journal of Nutrition, 140: 1887–1891. 2010. Print. Drewnowski, Adam and Darmon, Nicole. The economics of obesity: dietary energy density and energy cost. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(1),265–73. 2012. Print. Rashad, Inas and Grossman, Michael. The Economics of Obesity. London, LD: National Affairs, Inc., 2004. Print. Stettner, Joanna. International Obesity: Legal Issues Emory international law review, 24(1), 209-228. 2010. Print. Read More